“That’s not how dating works,” I said. “You ever heard of communication?Honesty?”
“Dating?” Justin arched an eyebrow. “So yesterday must’ve gone pretty well if you’re still thinking about her thatway.”
All this time I’d felt threatened by her presence, assuming the worst-case scenario would be losing control of themagazine.
Losing Georgina, though? Somehow that seemedworse.
I hadn’t wanted yesterday to end. No question, I’d never been on a better date, and to top it off, I’d woken up happy and ready to do it all over again. Especially the part where I’d had her gorgeous, naked body ready and willing underneathme.
If I was mad about anything, it was that I’d barely gotten one last glance at her mouth-watering tits before she’d covered them up with a child’s t-shirt.
I steepled my fingers in front of me. I could tell Justin to fuck off and mind his own business, but I didn’t want to. He was my closest friend and when something was important to me, he was part of it. “I like her, man. I really do. I know you’ll say you told meso—”
“No need,” he said, “as long as it’s established that Idid.”
I sighed deeply. Georgina had been a pain in my ass since I’d met her. It shouldn’t have surprised me that that hadn’t changed simply because we’d slept together. She’d also pushed me in ways nobody had in a long while. She’d gotten me to open up about my mom, something I usually reserved for Libby and her husband orJustin.
And there was this one detail I hadn’t been able to get over since yesterday—Georgina had adopted a sickdog.
Maybe that had signaled weakness to her ex, but to me, it was pure strength. Losing my mom was the hardest thing I’d ever been through, and since then, I sometimes questioned how I could fully love someone knowing I might lose them too one day. Georgina, on the other hand, had faced it head on. She’dchosenit so she could give Bruno alife.
“I don’t want to fuck this up,” I admitted. “Yeah, maybe things didn’t come out right this morning. I was pissed, and I couldn’t see much beyond the fact that I was getting fired. But if she wants to take the job, I’m not willing to lose her over it. I’ll support her—I just wish that wasn’t the onlyoption.”
“Man, do you have any idea how awkward that would be? Dating someone who replacedyou?”
I ran my hands over my face, sitting back in my seat. Maybe he was right, but what other option was there? Was I supposed to let her go after we’d gotten this far? We’d pushed and pulled each other into this mess, and now I didn’t want to be anywhere else but knee-deep in it with her. “It’s fucked up,” I said, “but what hasn’t been about Georgina and me? We’ve been through a lot already. We could handleit.”
“All right, then let’s get serious here.” Justin leaned his elbows on his knees and lowered his voice. “If you want me to find out what’s going on, just say theword.”
“Meaning?”
“I have eyeballs, ears, heads, shoulders, knees, and toes all over thisplace.”
“You’re acreep.”
“You want info or not?” He looked offended. “Pfft. I’ve got operatives everywhere and dirt on everyone in this office, includingyou.”
“Then I guess they know about my recent, NSFW night in the copy room with yourmom.”
Justin’s face fell. “Why would you say that, man? You know I’m sensitive aboutthat.”
His mom had always been a total babe, which had caused him some problems in high school. “You make it soeasy.”
“Whatever. You want me to have the nerds in IT hack Georgina’s e-mail?”
“First of all, ‘nerds’? You wish you knew how to hack someone’s e-mail. You can’t even dial out on the firsttry.”
He flipped me off. “It’s a new phonesystem.”
“Secondly, do noteverhack an employee’s personal e-mail.”
“Got it. Just workthen.”
“Not that, either. Stay far away fromIT.”
Justin pointed to his ear and then to the ceiling, indicating that we were being listened to. “Understood,boss.”
“I’m not giving you some secret go-ahead. Stay out of Georgina’sbusiness.”
